Jillian Theil has been the Training and Field Support Coordinator for Pro Bono Net since 2011. She manages the LSNTAP/PBN Community Training series. 

 

 

In September, Pro Bono Net and LSNTAP held another webinar in the 2015 LSNTAP Community Training series, “Cultural Competency and Legal Technology: Considerations and Best Practices.” The training, moderated by Mirenda Meghelli of Pro Bono Net, focused on best practices in designing technology tools and content with sensitivity to issues surrounding gender identity and expression, racial and ethnic diversity, limited English proficiency, disability and 508 compliance as well as their intersectionality.

Camille Holmes of NLADA kicked off the presentation by establishing the importance of utilizing cultural humility/competence in legal technology. Such an approach affirmatively creates an inclusive platform that accurately reflects a full range of identities, resulting in a more accurate capture of data and subsequent data analysis for more effective engagement and advocacy.

Next, Talley Wells of Atlanta Legal Aid Society discussed website accessibility and inclusion. Talley covered what is involved in making websites accessible to users with disabilities, the basics of web accessibility, and lessons learned from his experience making OlmsteadRights.org accessible to the disability community.

Finally, Xander Karsten of LegalServer discussed gender and online content creation. He provided some useful ways of thinking about gender in legal technology, using gendered neutral language, building tools that allow for easy changes to gendered language, and engaging underserved communities to do user testing.

The webinar closed with an engaging Q/A session on best practices and how engaging your diverse user base in developing legal technology can contribute to more meaningful, timely, and culturally aware user experiences for your audience.

To view the other tips mentioned on this webinar, be sure to check out materials available on the SWEB Support Site and LSNTAP.org